Hillsboro recorder., 1887-12-08
A PLANTERS ROME.
PR0DUCTIVE FARM IN THE
{. s MISSISSIPPI DELTA .+,a
!. LordIy Place like Unto An English Bar
oniai seat--A $4,000 Gin House
For a 5000 Bale Farm. f..

And how many acres does he cult.
vatei, II E
"Well, I could never get him To- say,
but | think it is about 1000, though 1t
may be more.n a4 q y
The speaker was Treasurer Heming-
way, of Mississippi, and he was speaking
Of Ex-Governor Alcorn's plantation 10
Cohoama county. t3s& l 0a&
Four thousand acres in cultivationis Is
larger than 90 per cent of the farms in
Georgia, including every bit Of land in
the TRACT. 1t is question whether there
are 10 plantations in Georgia that con-
tain 900 acres, and yet a Mississippi
Planter cultivdtes that number. Gov.
Alcorii's place is admitted to b. perhaps
the finest in the southwest. A man of
large wealth, he farms in the most liberal
manner. Coy. Lowry said the other day,
speaking Of him and his plantation, there
is nothing like it anywhere in the coun-
try. 1t is more like an English baronial
seat than the river home OF a southern
planter. 1t is lordly place, with every
thing on the most magnificent scale.
The house is q perfect palace, built for
comfort and entertainments and furnished
with everything that refined and cul-
tivated taste could suggest or demand.
The plantation is on the same magnifi-
cent scale, and il it could be arranged 1t
would be treat to any one to sperd
day upon that domain.
The Clubhouse on the Alcorn place is
about as costly as a mansion on Peach
tree street in Atlanta, and it is estimated
that it could not be replaced for less than
$50, 900. 1t is necessarily obliged TO be
large, for within a very few months 5000
bGles of cottoa have TO be marketed at
that house. These large places are only
possible with great wealth, and this char
acterizes Gov. Acorn aud Others who run
them, but it shows what can be done on
the river bottom, or in the 'Delta coun-
try" as the Mississippians are pleased to
call it. Stock raising and grass culture
are carried on to a very large extent. The
matter is in its infancy, but already there
are stock farms where there are 60
dams for mules. These mares are
worked to make the corn crop and in
harvesting the hay for the entire place.
This work is not injurious and adds con.
siderable to the profit Of stock raising by
making the dam earn her salt in many
ways. For the purpose of raising mu'es,
the half Percheron marc is said to be the
best. The finest pair OF mules seen
here were bred from this stock. They
were strong and powerful, and had but
lIttle Of the heavy clumsiness character
istic OF the Percheron stock.
With hay, the Bermuda seems to be the
favOrite. 1t IS regularly cultivated, and
the yield is prolific. During the past
few months hay has been very scarce,
and the price consequently very high.
and the stockmen have seen the wisdom
Of raising large quantities Of it. In
year or more there will not be bale OF
western hay imported in Mississippi.
The stock farms are not devoted exclu-
sively to horses and mules, though these
are produced more numerously than any
other variety, but on nearly all the large
places you see fine cattle. The jersey Is
the most common, though the Durham
and the Holstein arefreluently met with.
The advantage the Jersey has over the
other breeds In the South was the readi.
ness with which il adapted itself to its
new surroundings With the Holsteins,
they were good breeds to have on rich
bottom lands where food grew luxuri.
antly, but for upland places, where COW
has TO knock about right smart for her
living, the Holstein was not success. II
is a lazy animal; il does not know how
TO provide for itself, and unless every.
thing is In the greatest abundance about
IL, Il will not thrive without feeding
and constant watching. Itis superior to
the Jersey in that it Is an excellent beef
cattle, and the cows at the same time are
BY no means poor mixers. The most
popular cattle are the Devon, for
working purposes.
One Of the best specimens Of winter
provender In Mississippi is mixed clover.
which grows as well rs il does in tho
best sections Of Kentucky. The planters
put II in freely, aud they are rewarded
with as splendid crop as one could de,
sire. IN the spring and summer no bet.
ter grazing can be found than that uf.
fJrded by the prairie land, and cattle
S,Ild,, an be kent st TslII nominal ,eot in l'rgs
up in Winter by feeding cured prairi,
grass 10 them, but this is seldom done
unless proycndcr Is very scarce. The
other and finer qualities of grass grow
too luxuriantly 70 make its crop ever q
failure, and be is a very poor aud indif.
ferent farmer who fails TO bale more thar
enough for winter consumption.
Mississippi is not solely cotton pro.
ducing statc. Il is true that this season
the cotton crop there has l,een better thar
| u has been IN any Southern state. Tks
early drought did not affect ID, NJ IL did
in Georgia, Alabama and Texas, consc
quebtly the yield was better, and qusliI, J.,
better, and, 10 every way the crop NOR,
Of success. But the corn crop Of the
state Is large one, and will hereafter
grow larger and larger. The corn land
of Mississippi yield surprisingly. Al
tho recent large fair held In the state th,
premium for the greatest number d
bushels of cora made ter acre Wai
awarded 10 u man who gathered 145
This was phenomenal, hut sixty ~ sew
en,y.iyc Is not 10 certain quarters. Ia
Cohoama county, corn is made in large
quantity thap 10 suy county in Georgia
| Il. Wn.Es....ts... sa......ss .aI l.. III al.